One Hundred Dollars a Month

“The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.” ~ Oprah Winfrey 

My goals for 2018

Goal #1 – Write Like No One is Reading.

“Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.” ~  Barbara Kingsolver

Goal #2 – Slow Down

My big activity of the week was rearranging the window spot in the family room by moving Lucy’s lounging couch out to the sun room, and replacing it with two chairs and a side table we already had in the house. I think I like this look better. It reminds me of our trip to Cogswell’s Grant. Now I just need to find a little chess board for the table.

Goal #3 – Shop Small

I only left the house once last week to buy a gallon of milk at the country store and to “shop” the recycle center. 😉 It was wonderful.

Goal # 4 – Have a Designated Meal Prep Day It’s Not for Us.

I threw in the towel early on this one. Meal prep, and cooking in mass quantities is just not for my family at this stage in our lives

Goal #5 – Install a Vegetable Garden Done!

Now we just wait for the food to grow.

Goal #6 – Clear Land for a Chicken Coop and Future Raised Garden Bed Area 

The HH won’t start building the chicken mansion until early July but DANG, look at my resident weed eaters clear the the flower garden! Maybe if I had 20 more I’d never have to weed again!

Goal #7 – Grow 500 Pounds of Vegetables

So far this year I’ve grown 4 pounds 6 ounces of fresh vegetables and herbs. I was going to put out a little card table at the end of our road on Saturday to sell some turnips and herbs, but got distracted and didn’t think about it until later in the day. I think I’ll start next week though, and then once things really get growing maybe put out our extra produce on Wednesdays and Saturdays so they’ll be some consistency and peeps will know to look for fresh veggies on those days of the week.

Goal #8 – Hook 100 Rugs

I have 48 rugs left to hook until I can check this goal off my list for the year! This month I’ve been working on a few Americana pieces for my Etsy shop, and plan to add more listings in my next shop update on June 30th.

Goal #9 – Make a Set of Dolls

I plan to make a set {or two} of primitive dolls later this year after the garden has been put to bed.

Goal #10 – Make a Sampler, Frame it and Hang it on the Wall  Done!

Goal #11 – Visit 22 Bakeries

Not this week. But you can see all the bakeries we’ve visited so far HERE.

Goal #12 – Start a Collection

My collection of freebies continues. 🙂 This time I picked up a small end table {which I’ve since decided I’ll return back to the recycling center} a nice Pottery Barn desk lamp and 2 packages of Wall O’ Water .  

Have you tried these?  I’ve always wanted to see if they actually work but never wanted to shell out the money for them. Apparently if you fill the tubes with water and then place them around your tomato plants when you set them out in the spring, the plastic wall will help protect the plants from the cool temperatures {and I would assume give the plant additional heat during the warmer weather}. 

Little did I know how much these things retail for, because there was about a dozen or so packages of them sitting there in the “free shed” but I only took 2 of them in case someone else wanted a few as well. If they are still there next week though, I might grab a few more.

Goal #13 – Read {or listen to} 26 Books

On Friday I started listening to A Stranger in the Woods and by Saturday morning I had completed the entire audiobook. I found the book fascinating. “In 1986, twenty-year-old Christopher Knight left his home in Massachusetts, drove to Maine, and disappeared into the woods. He would not have a conversation with another person for the next twenty-seven years.”

Can you imagine? Living in the woods, for 27 years, alone, in silence, in Maine? You would think the first winter alone in a tent would kill you. But 27 years? Holy cow it was a compelling story. I can’t recommend it enough. Especially the audio version {which I was able to download from Overdrive}.

Goal #14 – Try 12 New Canning Recipes

I have a feeling my next few recipes will involve blueberries. 😉 So far I have found 10 mature blueberry bushes on the property. 7 of the bushes {which are under bird netting} have nice fat berries. The berries on the other 3 bushes are tiny and I’ll probably just leave those for the birds. I have absolutely no idea how many berries we will end up with, but I’m hoping it will be enough for a few batches of jam and enough blueberries for smoothies and pies to last an entire year. Only time will tell.

Goal #15 – Secret {for now} Holiday Project

A Christmas Story has changed they way I say fragile forever. Does anyone else out there feel the same? “Fra-gee-lay” …it must be Italian! 😉 Anywho, a new box of supplies arrived a few days ago and I’ve been playing around with them.

I still have an enormous amount of trial and error hours ahead of me before my secret project will be good enough to share, but I’m hopeful I’ll be ready by early September. I may even have a few of you “test” my holiday surprise {if you can keep a secret that is!}.  HOBBIES ARE RAD! Especially when you have 6 months of winter ahead of you. Ha!

How about YOU? Did you set any goals for 2018? How are they coming along?

~Mavis

Read About My 2018 Goals HERE.